Multiple sources within the National Elections Commission (NEC) and outside it, have told this reporter that the budget submitted by the NEC for the conduct of the pending April 22nd, 2025 Nimba County Senatorial By-election is unrealistic and way too high. The pending by-election is to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the late Senator Prince Yormie Johnson, who died on November 28, 2024.
Few days following his burial on January 17, 2025, the Senate’s leadership officially informed the NEC about a vacancy in the Senate as a result of Sen. Johnson’s death.
All six Commissioners of the National Elections Commission, who attended the Monday, Feb 10, 2025 press conference when they issued the Writ of Election for the Nimba County by-election
So, on Monday, February 10, 2025, NEC Co-Chairperson Counselor P. Teplah Reeves told a press conference that the NEC is constitutionally mandated to fill the seat within 90 days, in line with Article 37 of the Liberian Constitution, hence April 22nd. On that day, while she and other co-Commissioners said many things about the by-election, including issuing the Writ of Election for the conduct of that county’s by-election, they didn’t say anything about the budget.
It has been reported that the budget submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) and the Legislature for the pending by-election is a little over US$2.5 million, which is almost 50% in excess of the previous budget of US$1.7 million that was used for the 2024 senatorial by-election in Nimba County. This puts the current budget more than US$800 thousand in excess of the 2024 budget, something Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan and President Joseph Nyuma Boakai are surely going to frown on as being unacceptable.
This reporter was hinted by an NEC source familiar with the initial budget preparation that Co-chairperson Reeves, Commissioners Floyd Sayor and Barsee Kpangbai are the three Commissioners that led the budget preparation process for the by-election. It was said that the other three commissioners did chip in their inputs, too, to the formulation of the budget. Calls and texts placed to some of them went unanswered except for Commissioners Boakai A. Dukuly and Barsee L. Kpangbai, who denied having anything to do with the budget preparations. Specifically, Mr. Dukuly stated that the budget is prepared by technicians and not commissioners. Likewise, and in addition to saying that they don’t have anything to do with the budget, Commissioner Kpangbai referred this writer to the NEC’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), whom he said is the person who prepared the budget. The NEC’s CFO didn’t answer his phone nor responded to text sent to him. In this reporter’s last conversation with ‘Acting Chairperson’ Reeves on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, she categorically said, “Everything we do at the Commission, is done based on Board Resolution.” So, if this is accurate, why did the commissioners, especially Kpangbai, who is also the Chairman of the By-election Steering Committee, not take part in the budget formulation and or preparations process?
‘Acting Chairperson’/Co-Chairperson, Counselor P. Teplah Reeves
A financial expert, when contacted, said that the preparation of future budget (2025 Senatorial By-election in Nimba) is fundamentally rooted in analyzing expenditures from the previous election in the same county. This process involves reviewing and evaluating past spending patterns to inform future financial planning. By examining historical data, the NEC can identify trends, assess the effectiveness of the previous budget allocations in the 2024 By-election, and make informed decisions about resource allocation for the upcoming 2025 By-Election. This trend the expert believes did not happen while developing the current by-election budget. The expert further said that by leveraging past expenditures, the NEC can create a more accurate and realistic budget that will support the operational successes of the pending by-election.
If one is to listen to the analysis from the financial expert, the budget for the pending By-election should even be less than US$1.7 million based on actual expenditure of the Commission from the previous by-election, in the same county.
This situation has raised questions regarding the rationale behind the increased budget allocation, especially in the same county that similar election was conducted in less than a year ago.
The budget submitted by the Commission contradicts Government’s plea to all spending entities of government to streamline their budgets in the wake of USAID drawdown support for Liberia. There are also reports that development partners don’t usually support by-elections, leaving all of the burdens on the government of Liberia. One development partner even told this writer that some of the politicians are greedy and selfish. “They are sitting lawmakers; but would choose to run in a by-election just to create another by-election. Who should pay for such stupid election?”
The public has not been informed of the budget that was submitted. As was done in previous processes, when the NEC releases the timeline for the conduct of any election, the NEC at the same time announces the budget to the media and other electoral stakeholders, including the public. This did not happen during the release of the timeline by Co-chairperson Reeves and her colleagues on Monday, February 10, 2025. The NEC must be transparent at every step of the way in informing the public about its activities and budget for any electoral process funded from taxpayers’ money.
Some staff members, speaking anonymously with this reporter, said they are not happy with the manner in which the budget was done and believe that the final figure should have been disclosed to the staff, the public and other stakeholders as was done in previous elections.
The pending scrutiny by the MFDP and the Legislature will allow the public to understand the reason behind the submission of the current budget that is more than US$800 thousand in excess of the 2024 budget that was used to conduct the 2024 Senatorial By-election in the same Nimba County.
